POULSBO — For most teams, a 48-point state playoff victory would be cause for celebration.
Neah Bay, the No. 1-ranked defending Class 1B state champion, is not most teams.
And Saturday’s 78-30 triumph over Pateros at North Kitsap High School did not please head coach Tony McCaulley in the slightest.
“That’s not the type of effort I want to see,” McCaulley said. “We will not win the state title if we play like that, and that’s a long way off right now, but it’s something we have to fix.”
The Red Devils (10-0) advance to face Twin Valley (7-2), a first-year combination of familiar opponents Wishkah Valley and Lake Quinault, in the state quarterfinals after Twin Valley’s 62-34 win against Quilcene.
The Neah Bay offense showed its explosive potential, scoring on 11 of its 12 drives in the game, the final buzzer serving as the only force able to constrain the Red Devils.
But it was the pass defense that must see improvement if the Red Devils want to hoist another trophy.
Pateros senior quarterback Mikey Piechalski showed poise in the pocket, scrambling away from Neah Bay defenders and routinely finding his favorite target, wide receiver Carlos Ceniceros, for pass connections, or brothers Blake and Sam Eberhardt for long gains in the flat or on screen passes.
Piechalski finished the day 16 of 32 for 348 yards and four touchdowns, all to Ceniceros, who caught 10 balls for 217 yards.
Neah Bay was coming off a bye week that was earned by their Northwest Football League regular season championship.
“Our defense didn’t play very well at all,” McCaulley said.
“I’m very disappointed in the defense today. I don’t know if it was the layoff made us a little stale or what.
“We usually shut [passing offenses] down and we know teams are going to try and use that against us, especially if we come across [potential semifinal opponent] Lummi — if that’s the case, if we can win next week, but I don’t know if that’s the case if we play like this.”
The Red Devils opened the contest quickly, scoring 50 seconds after kickoff when sophomore running back Cole Svec took a toss sweep to the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown on the third play from scrimmage.
Svec was a danger to score every time he touched the ball, ending the game with eight rushes for 194 yards and four explosive touchdown runs of 38, 44, 18 and 50 yards.
But Pateros answered Svec’s first score quickly, with Piechalski going over the top for an 80-yard vertical route TD pass to Ceniceros down the right sideline on the Billygoats’ second play of the game.
After the Pateros score, Neah Bay’s freshman quarterback Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. then found tight end John Reamer on a 40-yard post corner and running back Chris Martinez went 11 yards and stretched the ball over the pylon on the next play for another quick Red Devils touchdown drive to make it 16-6 with 9:35 to go in the first quarter.
Martinez would score four first-half touchdowns, on runs of 11, 20 and 6-yards, and also caught a 27-yard TD from Munyagi. He finished with 11 carries for 156 rushing yards.
Neah Bay pushed the lead to 30-6 at the end of the first quarter after a 44-yard Svec TD rush and 38-yard post corner route passing connection from Munyagi to Reamer.
Pateros put together a 10-play drive scoring drive that was kept alive by a 49-yard pass from Piechalski to Blake Eberhardt on one fourth down and by a 4-yard rush by Piechalski on another, before Piechalski found Ceniceros on a bootleg-right-throw-left pass from 11 yards out.
“I think a lot of it has to do with attitude,” McCaulley said of the issues in pass defense.
“I think that because we can score easy, we let up defensively and I think that’s where it’s coming from.”
The Red Devils would answer, with Munyagi scoring on a 14-yard QB keeper, and Martinez scoring on a 20-yard rush on the longest Neah Bay drive of the game — five plays — to make it 46-14 with 5:39 until halftime.
Neah Bay went up by 40 points to put the running clock into effect before halftime when Cameron Buzzell took a counter-reverse from right to left for a 28-yard score and a 66-22 lead at intermission.
Buzzell had three carries for 84 yards for the Red Devils.
“Offensively we played OK, but not like what I would have liked to have seen,” McCaulley said.
“Athletically, we overpowered them with our speed and stuff, but we missed some assignments, so overall, I’m not really pleased with the game; I’m really disappointed, to tell you the truth.
“I have high standards. The score doesn’t dictate what we do or how we played. I want to see the team execute on every play.”
Neah Bay did do well against the run, holding the Billygoats to just 12 rushing yards on 26 attempt, and sacked Piechalski eight times.
“I just think with the week off, we got a little rusty and they had some fast receivers, but I think we picked it up after awhile,” Reamer said.
“We can be better on offense; we used a lot of talent and speed today to get away from them.
“Our blocking needs some work and a couple of our routes were off, but it’s the playoffs, we will get better, we get better everyday.”
Neah Bay 78, Pateros 30
Pateros 6 16 0 8— 30
Neah Bay 30 36 6 6— 78
First Quarter
NB—Svec 38 rush (Martinez rush good), 11:10.
P—Ceniceros 80 pass from Piechalski (pass failed), 10:11.
NB—Martinez 11 rush (Svec rush good), 9:35.
NB—Svec 44 rush (Reamer pass from Munyagi good), 5:23.
NB—Reamer 38 pass from Munyagi (pass failed), 3:19.
Second Quarter
P—Cisceros 11 pass from Piechalski (Piechalski rush), 10:48.
NB—Munyagi 14 rush (Reamer pass from Munyagi), 9:15.
NB—Martinez 20 rush (Buzzell pass from Munyagi), 5:39.
P—Ceniceros 37 pass from Piechalski (Piechalski rush), 3:14.
NB—Martinez 6 rush (Svec rush), 2:55.
NB—Martinez 27 pass from Munyagi (rush failed),1:57.
NB—Buzzell 28 rush (pass failed), 0:18.
Third Quarter
NB—Svec 18 rush (pass failed), 3:44.
Fourth Quarter
P—Cisceros 16 pass from Piechalski (Cisceros pass from Piechalski), 8:57.
NB—Svec 50 rush (pass failed), 5:59.
Individual Stats
Rushing—P: B. Eberhardt 7-33, S. Eberhardt 6-13, Piechalski 13-(-34). NB: Svec 8-194, Martinez 11-156, Buzzell 3-84, Munyagi 1-14, McGee 4-11, Tyler 1-4.
Passing— P: Piechalski 16-32-0, 348. NB: Munyagi 3-6-0, 105.
Receiving—P: B. Eberhardt 7-33, S. Eberhardt 6-13, Piechalski 13-(-34). NB: Svec 8-194, Martinez 11-156, Buzzell 3-84, Munyagi 1-14, McGee 4-11, Tyler 1-4.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
